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Compress a PDF to 500 KB

Get a PDF under 500 KB for an upload form. Text is kept when possible; pages become images only if they must.

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Hitting a size limit

The text is kept first, with stronger image compression at each step. Only if the file still does not fit are the pages turned into images, and the result tells you when that happened.

Drop a PDF here or click to choose onePDF files up to 100.0 MB each.

Processed on this device with your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

How it works

500 KB limits are common for CV uploads on job boards, for passport and bank-statement scans in visa applications, and for transcripts on university portals. Choose your PDF and it is rebuilt at the best quality that fits under 500 KB.

How it works, honestly: the text is kept first. The photos and scanned pages inside the PDF are resampled to the resolution the page really needs and re-saved as JPEG, duplicate and unused data is removed, and the file is recompressed, so text stays selectable and searchable and links and form fields keep working. Only when that still cannot reach the size you need are the pages turned into images as a last resort; then the text can no longer be selected, searched or copied, and the result tells you so. Keep your original.

Half a megabyte leaves room for a multi-page scan at a resolution where normal print stays easy to read; the result reports the resolution used so you can check. If your CV is a text PDF exported from Word, try uploading it as it is first: such files are often already small and keep their selectable text, which applicant tracking systems rely on.

What the 500 KB compressor did to real files

Measured on 2026-09-22 with this page's own compressor in Chrome. The test files were a 3-page scanned document (each page a 300 dpi image of printed text, 4.8 MB) and a 6-page report exported from a word processor (selectable 10.5-point text and one photo, 253 KB).

With 500 KB to spend on three pages, the scan fitted at the Strong keep-text level, about 110 dpi, and came out twenty times smaller than the original with clean, readable print. The text report was already under the target, so the tool returned it untouched instead of making it bigger.

Test fileResultLowest image resolutionWhat the tool did
3-page scan, 4.8 MB245 KBabout 110 dpiText kept (Strong level)
6-page text report, 253 KB253 KB (unchanged)not neededAlready under 500 KB: returned as it is

How to use it

  1. Choose the PDF; the target is already 500 KB.
  2. Turn on black and white for text scans.
  3. Click Compress PDF and check the reported size and resolution.
  4. Download and check the smallest text before uploading.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded?

No. The file is read and processed by your browser on your device; nothing is sent to a server. The PDF engine is downloaded from this site the first time you use a tool and then runs on your device.

Will the text still be selectable?

In most cases, yes: the tool shrinks the images inside the PDF and cleans up the file, and leaves text, fonts, links and form fields as they are. Only if the size you need cannot be reached that way are the pages turned into pictures, and the result says so clearly. For a scan this changes little, because its pages were pictures already (any OCR text layer is kept in keep-text mode).

What if the PDF hardly gets smaller?

Text-only PDFs made by Word or a web browser are often already compact: text takes very little space and there are no big images to shrink. The tool tells you when nothing could be saved and keeps your original. Turning such pages into images would usually make them bigger, not smaller.

Should I compress my CV this way?

Yes: a CV exported from Word or Google Docs keeps its real text here, which recruiters' systems need, as long as it fits under 500 KB with its images shrunk. If the result says the pages had to become images, shrink or remove the photos in the original and export again instead.

How many pages fit in 500 KB?

It depends on the content: plain printed text compresses far better than photos or coloured backgrounds. Try it, then check the reported resolution; if it is below about 100 dpi, remove pages or use black and white.

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